Grandparents
by Fettkat
Summary: Ben Skywalker gets a chance to visit his "real" grandparents!


_I must be the unluckiest kid in the galaxy. Three sets of grandparents, and I never got to meet even one._

"Dad?"

"Mhmm?"

"What were you like as a kid?"

"Eh?"

The question caught Luke Skywalker completely off-guard.

"What were you like as a kid?"

Ten-year old Ben Skywalker looked up at him innocently.

"What was I like? What kind of a question is that?"

The little boy shrugged.

"You know, when you used to live on Tatooine."

Luke frowned contemplatively, completely distracted from his datapad. He knew he shouldn't have to think so hard to remember his childhood or early youth, but it had frankly been the last thing on his mind at the moment.

"Well, Ben, according to my uncle, I used to get into a lot of trouble."

His son's eyebrows shot up.

"Really?" he asked with more than a little interest. Luke smiled warmly and set aside his datapad, realizing this was the build-up to a story at least.

Luke felt a tide of memories wash over him, triggered by Ben's question. Memories of the Lars homestead, Aunt Beru, Uncle Owen yelling at him for childish follies, Anchorhead and Beggars Canyon, his gang of friends who had teased him with the nickname "Wormie", considering him the runt of the group, Biggs, crazy old Ben Kenobi, dangerous Tuskens and diminutive Jawas...

Ben was waiting for his reply, his eyes round with eagerness. He loved hearing stories about his parents' early lives. Mara wasn't able to satisfy his thirst since she had no memories left of her childhood before Palpatine, and those stories had to be censored even for the ears of a ten-year-old. So Luke was the one he would have to come to to ask what it was like to be a kid, back in their day...

"So you never went back?"

Ben's voice was quiet. Luke had just finished telling him about the time he'd gotten into particular trouble with Uncle Owen for finding a missing screwdriver using the Force. He looked at his son in astonishment. He was looking down at his feet, picking at a non-existent loose thread from the carpet. He had expected a completely different reaction.

"No,I-I never really got around to doing that, Ben," Luke sighed. Ben had managed to hit his deepest regret regarding his guardians right on the head. He'd never even gone back to Tatooine to pay homage to their graves. He'd intended to, many times, but...

"They never even knew about Mom and me."

Luke frowned.

"Ben, they died when I was 19. You know that."

"Do you think they'd have liked me?"

There was a silent plea in that question that pained Luke. He gathered his son up in his arms.

"Oh son, they would have loved you! It must be their deepest regret that they never got to meet you...and mine," he added softly.

"Then how come you never mean them when you mention my grandparents, Dad?"

Luke was shocked. His ears were burning in shame. Ben was right. Talk of his grandparents mainly revolved around the larger-than-life figure of Anakin Skywalker and his legacy as Darth Vader. And to a much lesser extent, Padme Amidala and Mara's unknown parents. Owen and Beru never so much as figured in their conceptions of Ben's grandparents. But they had been the ones to really raise Luke, to give him the sense of family when he had lost his own. He hung his head in contrition. Was this the way he repaid their long years of selfless love and dedication? By denying them their only grandson?

"You're right, Ben. It was... wrong of me."

That night, as Mara snuggled up to him in bed, Luke's thoughts were elsewhere.

"Mara?"

"Mhmm?"

"Do you mind if I take Ben on a little trip with me?"

His wife sat up.

"Trip? Where are you thinking?"

"Tatooine."

"Tatooine?" Mara's eyebrows rose by a couple of inches." Whatever for?"

"I think Ben wants to get to know his grandparents."

Mara looked even more confused.

"I want to take him to the Lars homestead with me, Mara, to pay our respects to Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru. We were talking today and he made me realize I've never given credit to the only real set of grandparents he ever had."

"But-Luke, they wouldn't technically be his grandparents. I mean, I know they raised you and everything, but..."

"I know, Mara. They may not qualify as his grandparents by blood, but... I don't think any others would have loved him more. Besides, I never went back even to visit their graves, even to remember their sacrifice for me. I think I need to do this, Mara, and it would be important for Ben, too."

Mara bit her lip, but finally nodded.

Luke kissed the top of her head.

"Don't worry, sweetheart, we'll only be gone a couple of days. And I promise I won't let him near either a cantina or a Podrace!"

Mara smiled faintly as she mock-threateningly yanked his ear.

"You'd better not, Farmboy. Or I'll make sure you end up as the Sarlacc's dinner!"

Luke winced.

* * *

The sun beat down mercilessly as I surveyed my father's childhood home. The homestead had fallen into disrepair over the years and seemed to have even served as a temporary refuge for the Tusken Raiders at some point of time. Almost all the vaporators were rusted or broken and sand had almost filled up the underground living chambers. Dad and I were standing quietly a little away from the homestead, in front of a barren patch of earth, tamped hard. An entire family lay buried beneath that gravesite. My great-grandmother was buried here too. It was hard to imagine.

I looked up into my father's face, squinting against the harsh sunlight. His eyes were dim and thoughtful and his face looked like he was revisiting some particularly painful memories. He reached down and clasped my shoulder gently as I stared into the ground, wondering about those who lay beneath. I had never seen any holos of Owen or Beru Lars. I didn't even know what they looked like. Dad seemed to catch the trend of my thoughts.

"My aunt Beru was one of the most loving people I knew, Ben. She was a true mother to me. She never made me feel like I wasn't her own son."

He paused.

"And my uncle Owen... We had our differences, misunderstandings mostly...I don't think we understood each other. It wasn't till later in my own life that I realized that all that he'd done was only to protect me, out of his love for me."

He smiled wistfully and shook his head.

"Poor Uncle Owen was trying to turn a Skywalker into a Lars! It could never have worked."

I knelt down and placed my hand flat over the ground covering their graves and screwed my eyes shut, sending a message through the Force, not knowing whether the non-Force sensitive dead would be able to receive it or not.

'I wish I could have known you. I wish none of you would've died and you could have been here for me to visit sometimes. Thank you for taking care of my dad, and for making sure he didn't turn out like Grandfather.'

"Do you think they can sense us, Dad? I mean, I know they didn't have the Force or anything..."

Dad looked at me and smiled brightly.

"What do you think, Ben? Do you think that can prevent them from feeling our gratitude?"

I concentrated my focus on the gravesite again, and to my surprise, I felt a faint touch of indistinct but warm emotions in the Force. I opened my eyes, startled. Dad was still smiling.

"You know what that is, Ben?" he asked, wrapping his arm around me and pulling me closer to his side. I looked up at him again, puzzled. His eyes were shining strangely now, like they had tears in them.

"That's love." His voice was a husky whisper now.

"That's your grandparents trying to tell you how much they love you and how much they wish they could be here for you."

I was stunned.

"Wow!" I breathed.

I closed my eyes and reached for them again and this time, Dad reached out with me.

"Uncle Owen, Aunt Beru, I'm so sorry I never visited you, I never got a chance to introduce you to my family. But I want you to meet Ben. My son. Your grandson..."


End file.
